What is the AbeBooks Affiliate Program?

The AbeBooks Affiliate Program allows AbeBooks to reward partners and fans of our company for sending us customers and generating sales.

How much commission will I make?

You'll make 5%* commission on books worth up to $500 bought within 90 days of clicking on your link to AbeBooks.

*Negotiable based on volume.

Does it cost anything to join?

No. It's free to join the AbeBooks Affiliate Program.

How does the $500 item limit work?

AbeBooks collects commission from booksellers on items with a value up to $500. So if a single item worth $700 is sold, we will pay you commission on the first $500. If two individual items are sold costing $350 each we will pay you commission on $700 total.

How do you track my sales?

When someone first clicks on your link to AbeBooks, a cookie is placed in their browser. This cookie tracks sales over 90 days and attributes the first three to you. Each time someone clicks your AbeBooks link, we start a new 90 day window and sale counter. If someone visits AbeBooks through Site A, but does not buy anything, then goes to Site B, and visits AbeBooks through their link, Site B makes commission as they had the last click.

How do I get paid?

You are paid through our independent platform Impact Radius once a month. When you set up your account, you can choose a threshold or specify a fixed day for payment. All sales are locked one month and eight days after the end of each month and approved sales are paid twelve days after the locking period. So you will get paid 50 days after the end of the month in which a sale took place.

Do you provide coupons?

We occasionally provide coupons directly to affiliates and allow affiliates to collect commission on resulting sales. However, AbeBooks does not pay commission for sales generated through invalid or unauthorized coupons.

What if I have multiple web sites or domains?

You can register as many sites as you choose when you join our program.

I've already joined. How do I access my Impact Radius account?

How does the AbeBooks Affiliate Program compare to those of other online book companies?

We offer a longer cookie window, a larger selection of books and we are owned by trusted e-commerce leader, Amazon Inc.

Should I join AbeBooks' Affiliate Program if I am already an Amazon Associate?

Yes! AbeBooks has a lot of independent booksellers that do not list their books with Amazon so there are used, rare, collectible and out of print books and other items which can only be found on our site. Our search functionality is optimized for booklovers in particular, allowing users to search for signed books and first editions. Finally, shipping on our site is often cheaper than Amazon.

Who or what is Impact Radius?

Impact Radius is an independent platform that provides tracking technology and acts as payment processor for commissions earned.

For real time access to all the books on our site, use Search Web Services, our search API. Search by ISBN, author, title, keyword, or publisher to get book prices, shipping prices, images, vendor descriptions, and more. Fine-tune your search results with filters such as vendor location, book condition, seller rating etc. The Search Web Services User Guide has more details. Contact Us for access.

Do you allow Pay Per Click (PPC) marketing?

No. AbeBooks prohibits direct linking from search engines and PPC bidding on trademarked terms including abebook, abebooks, abe book, abe books, advanced book exchange, a b e books, abe com, abe's books, www.abebooks.com, abebooks.com, abe books, www.abebooks, etc. Any word that contains the name AbeBooks or any misspelling is considered a trademark violation. Violation of these terms may result in reversal of commissions, commissions being set to zero and, in some cases, removal from the program altogether.

What kind of site do I need to have to work with the AbeBooks Affiliate Program?

Our most successful affiliates include price comparison sites, book related blogs, and shopping sites, but we have a wide variety of sites in our program. Any site that references books or other collectible items can make money by adding links to AbeBooks.